Insights and Updates

The birds roost and the fish stir not, the moonlight shines on the deep night river. Nothing outside the body matters; in the boat there is only the qin. The seven strings are my good friends, my two ears are the discerning listeners. When the…

Last night I was chatting in another boy's dorm room in our class with a student who wanted to join the study group I had formed, and I forgot to check my phone. After we finished talking I glanced at it: the class group chat…

On Saturday, a gastroenterologist came to see me about her child's illness. She was trained in Western medicine; I used to study TCM and am now also studying Western medicine, though only just beginning. We chatted for a while about medical matters. She had taken…

"Stop memorizing vocabulary—I want you to keep me company." When I got up this morning and, as usual, took out my phone to recite words, my wife immediately stopped me. I smiled, put the phone down, and talked with her. We have been together for…

Fu Canbing was born in 1917 in Jiangjin County, Sichuan Province. He was a chief TCM physician who began studying Chinese medicine under his father, Fu Songtao, in childhood. With more than 50 years of clinical experience, he served as director and later as advisor…

Polycythemia refers to a state in which the number of red blood cells, the hemoglobin concentration, and the hematocrit (the volume percentage of red cells in whole blood) in the blood are abnormally elevated. This condition makes the blood "thick," slows blood flow, and thereby…

Xiaopi Powder ("Mass-Dissolving Powder") is an external formula created by National Medical Master Yan Dexin for treating splenomegaly in patients with chronic leukemia. It is composed of Shuihonghuazi (Prince-of-Feather cockscomb fruit) and Pixiao (Glauber's salt), 1 liang each; Zhangnao (camphor), Taoren (peach kernel), and Tubiechong…

The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said that if George Washington were to return to life in the 1900s, he certainly would not have liked the already prosperous and developed America of that time, but would most likely have come to China, which was then in…

Yuquan Pill ("Jade Spring Pill") originates from Wanbing Huichun (Resuscitation of All Diseases) by the Ming-dynasty physician Gong Tingxian. The formula consists of Huanglian (Coptis rhizome), Gegen (Pueraria root), Tianhuafen (Trichosanthes root), Zhimu (Anemarrhena rhizome), Maidong (Ophiopogon tuber), Renshen (Ginseng), Wuweizi (Schisandra fruit), fresh Shengdi…

Li Congfu (1905-1990), a native of Huangmei County, Hubei Province, began studying TCM through apprenticeship at age 13 and opened his own practice in 1925. Old Doctor Li was engaged in medicine for more than 60 years and served as president of Hunan Provincial TCM…